From Independence to Interdependence a lecture by Kuba Szreder

In this lecture, Kuba Szreder challenges one of the most persistent myths of contemporary art: that success is achieved through individual genius, self-reliance, and entrepreneurial drive. Drawing on his book, The ABC of the Projectariat: Living and Working in a Precarious Art World, he uses the feminist “iceberg” metaphor to show how visible success rests on vast, undervalued networks of care, self-organisation, and cultural commons. Through examples from activist organising and experimental economic initiatives, Szreder argues for art worlds built on interdependence rather than competition. This lecture asks a vital question: What would it mean to organise art worlds as interdependent ecosystems rather than the winner-takes-it-all economies?

Kuba Szreder is a researcher, curator, and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He collaborates with artistic unions, consortia of postartistic practitioners, clusters of art researchers, art collectives, and artistic institutions across Europe. His current research interests include the conditions of artistic labour, new models of artistic institutions, artistic self-organization, artistic research, and postartistic theory and practice. His book The ABC of the Projectariat: Living and Working in a Precarious Art World was published in 2021 by Manchester University Press and the Whitworth. In 2025, together with Kacper Greń and the Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam, he published the visual essay Duckrabbits Unveiled: A Sneak Peek at Postartistic Theory and Practice.

This event is made possible with generous support from Polish Cultural Institute London

This event is organised by BA Creative Arts & Humanities: The Collaborative Economy and is part of Multiple Ontologies and Beyond: Doing and sharing radically interdisciplinary research funded by UCL Arts and Sciences Collaborative Project Fund.

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Host or Publisher UCL School for the Creative & Cultural Industries